A new home for your unwanted items

Instead of throwing your unwanted items away when you leave this summer, why not donate them to the Reuse and Recycling Campaign. This scheme has run since 2009 to divert waste from landfill at the end of term. There are 3 parts to this year's scheme.

  • A scheme is run by British Heart Foundation (BHF) who we have been working with for the last 7 years.
  • A scheme is run by Better Reuse to collect duvets and pillows from each hall and reuse or recycle them.
  • Students can donate any unwanted food to the Felix Project. Boxes are provided in all student kitchens for unopened non-perishable food that has not passed the expiry date.

It is really easy to donate. Everything you give supports the above organisations, reduces waste and helps avoid CO2 emissions.

What can be reused?

British Heart Foundation - Please donate unwanted clothing, textiles, paired shoes, bags, books, CDs, DVDs, small electrical items, homewares and clean, good quality crockery by placing it in the red BHF donation points in halls of residence. Full list of donation points can be found below.

  • All clothes and fabrics can be donated but please ensure other items are in a good and reusable condition as all items will be sold in BHF shops to raise funds. Duvets and pillows can be donated in the separate bag located next to the BHF donation points. Please do not put them in the red donation boxes.
  • NO knives (sharps) or food, duvets, pillows, clothes hangers or broken or dirty items. Thank you!

Better Reuse - Duvets and pillows can be donated in the large sack provided at each donation point below. All duvets and pillows are either resused at homeless shelters or animal shelters if in good condition. If in poor condition they will be shredded and recycled.

The Felix Project - Boxes in student kicthens can be used to donate unopened non-perishable food which will be collected and donated to the Felix Project. This food will be distributed to those in need of it most. Please only donate foods that have English instructions on them as only items which have these will be able to be donated.

With so much waste being produced over such a short period of time this is an excellent opportunity to make the best of it with only a little effort required to sort items effectively. In 2022 the scheme was a great success and we hope that we can make an even bigger impact this year. 

How to take part

There are 2 aspects to the campaign to make the best use of your unwanted resources:

  • Reuse: Please donate anything which is in good condition; all donations can be put to good use.
  • Recycling: Please make sure nothing goes to waste unnecessarily; most things which are made of a single material can be recycled.

By reusing & recycling we can benefit those in need and avoid unnecessary CO2 emissions. As you prepare to leave at the end of term, please spend some time to make sure as little as possible goes to waste.

We will provide waste and recycling sacks to make it easy for you to segregate. This are available next to the BHF donation points in halls at the locations below.

Please take your clean, reusable items that you do not intend to take home to the Reuse Collection Point and leave recycling in the sack provided in your room at the end of term. 

Where to put it?

Reuse donations to BHF - Please put all donations in a donation point at the following locations:

  • Beit Quad Hall - East Common Room - Ground floor
  • Eastside - Entrance to Gabor Hall and Linstead Hall
  • Pembridge Gardens - Main Games Room and Basement Common Room
  • Southside - Common rooms FALG03, TZLG33, SELG63
  • Kemp Porter Builidng - Common Room
  • Wilson House - Social Space - Annex
  • Woodward Buildings - Ground Floor Common Room
  • Xenia House - Games Room / Student Lounge
  • Evelyn Gardens - Common rooms in Willis Jackson and Southwell

Duvets and pilows can be donated too. There will be a donation point for these items next to the British Heart Foundation boxes. 

Recycling can be left in a recycling sack your room.

What can be recycled?

Glass icon

Glass

  • Bottles
  • Jars

Dry Mixed Recycling

  • Drinks cans
  • Food tins
  • Hard plastics (not bags or films)
  • Plastic bottles (lids removed)
  • Rigid plastic containers (transparent plastic milk containers, margarine tubs yoghurt pots)
  • Aerosol cans (empty only, lids removed)
  • Plastic type 1 (PET)
  • Plastic type 2 (HDPE)
  • Plastic type 3 (PVC)
  • Plastic type 5 (PP)
Paper and card icon

Paper and card

  • Office paper (no need to remove staples or paper clips)
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Junk mail and envelopes (including window envelopes)
  • Phone directories (inc Yellow Pages)
  • Catalogues Card/cardboard (these must be flattened)
  • Tetra Pak cartons - eg fruit juice & milk cartons

NO: ring binders, plastic pockets/wallets/folders

Food waste

Don’t forget to clear out your cupboards and fridges; please put your food waste in the usual bin
(without the packaging).

Sharps

Avoid accidents: leave knives, forks or thin glassware in the cuttlery drawer/cupboard – don't dispose of them in a waste sack! Thank you!

Top tips for being green!

  1. Don't put food in the recycling! Food will contaminate recycling and possibly render it unusable. Paper fibres cannot be recycled if they are contaminated with food so please make sure your cans and bottles have been emptied and rinsed out first (but you can recycle food if you have a designated food waste bin).
  2. Recycle as much as possible! Most items can be recycled; checkout the list above! Most homes are managing to recycle 40% of waste but at least 60% is possible.
  3. Encourage others in your hall! In addition to making your own contribution to the reuse scheme and recycling as much as possible, the best thing you can do to ensure that your hall is one of the greenest, is to spread the word and encouraging fellow residents to take part too.

What are the benefits?

  1. Save resources! None of us want to waste time. None of us want to waste money. So why should we want to waste resources? Reclaiming materials for reuse or recycling not only saves the material itself (reducing the need to obtain new raw materials); but also avoids or reduces the energy and other material consumption required during the manufacturing process, too.
  2. Save carbon! Recycling paper and card saves 85% of the carbon emissions compared with sending them to landfill. That’s a considerable benefit to the environment; all you have to do is put it in the right sack! Reusing items saves valuable resources by prolonging their use, reduces impact on the environment by avoiding landfill and, compared with recycling or disposal, produces much lower CO2 emissions. In 2022 ago 6.8 tonnes of materials avoided landfill and were reused saving around 60 tonnes of carbon emissions. If an item can be reused then this is the best way of disposing of it so please donate as much as you can. But please remember, if something is completely dilapidated then it is unlikely it can be reused.
  3. Social benefits by supporting worthwhile causes! The unwanted items you donate will be put to good use. All items will be reused by British Heart Foundation. BHF donate large grants which contribute to funding research at Imperial College into heart disease.
  4. Have a free lunch! As food can’t be reused unless it is sealed and un-perishable, why not get together with your kitchen mates and cook up all your leftovers? OK, depending upon what you have left, you might not win MasterChef with this meal but at least you get to share and benefit from all the leftovers rather than simply letting these go to waste.